Explore the mysteries of the El Castillo pyramid at Chichen Itza Mexico, where scientists used cosmic rays to detect hidden pyramid chambers, revealing secrets of the ancient Mayan civilization. These findings, once considered ancient mysteries, are now being revealed through modern archaeology. The Mayan pyramid holds more secrets than we thought! Scientists have discovered hidden chambers inside Chichén Itzá's El Castillo pyramid, sealed for over 1,000 years. The technology that found them? Cosmic rays from collapsing stars, traveling millions of light-years to penetrate solid stone like a universe-sized X-ray. The legendary Temple of Kukulkan (El Castillo) is a marvel of Maya engineering and astronomy, famous for the serpent shadow that appears during the equinox. But its greatest secrets lie buried within. We know El Castillo is a 'Russian nesting doll' of three pyramids, but in 2016, physicists used muon tomography—a form of cosmic-ray scanning—to find anomalies. They detected hidden voids and potential chambers that archaeology couldn't reach, sealed for a millennium. What lies inside these time capsules? Could they contain lost Maya codices systematically destroyed by conquistadors? Priceless artifacts like the jade jaguar throne? Or a symbolic link to the Sacred Cenote and the Maya underworld, Xibalba? This documentary explores the incredible science of using space particles to unlock ancient mysteries. We also dive into the 'access dilemma' facing archaeologists at this UNESCO World Heritage Site: can we—or should we—look inside? Or must we wait, knowing these secrets from one of history's most sophisticated civilizations are just out of reach?

 

 

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Oldest Underwater City Found in America

 

Lake Huron — one of the massive Great Lakes — has revealed what looks a lot like the remains of an underwater civilization. Researchers found human-made stone structures and ancient tool artifacts buried about 120 feet under the lake surface. Someone lived here long before the modern shoreline existed — and nature’s floods (and time) covered the evidence. Stay tuned, we’re diving into how they found it, how it’s preserved, and what it tells us about civilizations you’ve likely never heard of.

 

 

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Landscapes that remember: clues show Indigenous Peoples have thrived in the southwestern Amazon for more than 1,000 years

Prof Carla Jaimes Betancourt, an anthropologist focusing on the Amazon, is a researcher at the Department of Anthropology of the Americas at the University of Bonn and co-director of the BASA Museum housed at the university. Her research, promoting collaborative archaeology with local Indigenous People, focuses on the social complexity in the southwestern Amazon and processes of expansion and formation of ethnic groups in the South American lowland.

In a newly published Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology article, she and co-authors present the results of interdisciplinary and collaborative archaeological research conducted in the southwestern Amazon. In the following editorial, she highlights the rich cultural heritage found at the sites and the importance of protecting these landscapes where humans have thrived for thousands of years.

by Prof Carla Jaimes Betancourt

In September 2021, a multidisciplinary expedition explored one of the least-known regions of the Bolivian Amazon: the Great Tectonic Lakes of Exaltación in the department of Beni. Organized by the Grupo de Trabajo para los Llanos de Moxos (GTLM), the mission brought together researchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society, the National Museum of Natural History, the Institute of Ecology, the Biodiversity and Environment Research Center, the Aquatic Resources Research Center, and the Department of Anthropology of the Americas at the University of Bonn.

Landscapes as Living Archives

In southwestern Amazonia, the great tectonic Lakes Rogaguado and Ginebra in Bolivia reveal a profoundly human landscape, a living archive of adaptation and creativity. Beneath the grasslands and shallow waters lie monumental earthworks, raised fields, and complex canal systems that attest to millennia of human–environment interaction.

The lakes lie within the Municipal Protected Area of Grandes Lagos Tectónicos de Exaltación and form part of the Río Yata Ramsar wetland complex, recognized by UNESCO for its ecological and cultural significance. Situated in the Llanos de Moxos, a vast mosaic of savannas, gallery forests, and floodplains, the largest wetland in the Amazon basin, this landscape has long inspired fascination, even evoked in ethnohistorical account of the fabled ‘Land of Paititi.’ Yet its deeply human history is only now coming into focus.

Through survey, excavation, and LiDAR mapping, we documented several archaeological sites — Paquío, Coquinal, Isla del Tesoro, and Jasschaja — each representing a different chapter in the long history of settlement in this region.

Radiocarbon dates show successive occupations from about 600 to 1400 CE, and research revealed how communities repeatedly reshaped these wetlands. At Paquío, an early phase around 600 CE was followed by a more intensive occupation between 1000 and 1200 CE, marked by shell middens, dense ceramic deposits, and an elaborate network of canals and raised fields associated with maize-based agriculture. In contrast, Jasschaja, dated to 1300 to1400 CE, shows broader landscape transformations and greater plant diversity, pointing to intensified forest and crop management.

The landscape, like many across the Llanos de Moxos, is marked by geometrically shaped relief that resolves, upon examination, into circular and quadrangular ditches, drainage canals, raised fields, and clusters of mounds form an intricate system of water control and cultivation. These earthworks were carefully engineered to manage floods, channel water, and create habitable and cultivable spaces within a seasonally inundated environment. Their variety, from geometric enclosures to elongated cultivation platforms, suggests not a single plan but centuries of local experimentation and adaptation to changing ecological and social conditions. Together, they reflect the cultural diversity and long-term resilience of the peoples who shaped them.

Excavations at Paquío and Jasschaja also revealed a remarkably diverse pre-Hispanic diet, showing how ancient societies utilized the resources of a dynamic wetland. Fish such as wolf fish, peacock bass, and South American lungfish dominated the assemblages, complemented by reptiles like caimans and turtles, and mammals such as capybaras, pacas, and armadillos. Botanical evidence indicates the use of maize, legumes, and several palm species — moriche palm, corozo palm, cumare palm, totai palm, palmita, and peach palm. Together, these findings depict a mixed economy of fishing, hunting, gathering, and cultivation.

Biocultural Heritage and Collaboration in the Field

The Cayubaba and Movima communities continue to inhabit these landscapes, where exceptional biodiversity is interwoven with deep cultural history. Their long-standing presence and knowledge sustain a unique form of biocultural heritage, where ecological and cultural diversity have coevolved through centuries of interaction.

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During the post-Covid-19 field seasons, collaboration was grounded in dialogue and respect. Representatives of the Cayubaba Indigenous Council, encompassing 21 Cayubaba and Movima communities, helped identify research areas, guided access to culturally significant sites, and requested that certain places remain untouched. Although contact was necessarily limited for health reasons, this coordination ensured that the research aligned with community priorities and contributed to a broader understanding of the region’s living heritage.

Through the GTLM, scientists and Indigenous representatives are creating a platform that connects archaeological and ecological research with conservation. The project highlights that the Llanos de Moxos is not only a biodiversity hotspot but also a landscape profoundly shaped by human history, while supporting ongoing efforts to strengthen the management of the Yata River Ramsar site and the protected areas with which it overlaps.

Why the Past Matters for the Future

At a time when deforestation, industrial agriculture, and climate change threaten the Amazon’s integrity, the landscapes of Rogaguado and Ginebra offer more than archaeological insight: they offer lessons in sustainability. Archaeological evidence reveals long-term traditions of diversified livelihoods integrating farming, fishing, and forest management in flexible and adaptive ways. Rather than seeking to dominate nature; ancient Amazonians worked with its rhythms, transforming seasonal floods into opportunities. Although the construction and use of raised fields eventually ceased—likely as a consequence of demographic collapse and social disruptions following European colonization—this does not diminish the sustainability of their practices. For centuries, these societies maintained productive systems through their understanding of the dynamic wetlands. Their legacy challenges modern assumptions about ‘development’ and reminds us that resilience often arises from diversity: from species, knowledge, and ways of life.

Safeguarding this biocultural heritage has become a global responsibility. As the wetlands of the Llanos de Moxos continue to store carbon, regulate water, and sustain biodiversity, their conservation must also honor the people who have long cared for them. In this sense, archaeology becomes more than the study of the past: it is a bridge linking the knowledge embedded in ancient landscapes with today’s urgent conversations on sustainability and justice.

The Llanos de Moxos remind us that the Amazon has always been a biocultural landscape, dynamic, inhabited, and full of memory. Its monumental earthworks, forest islands, and living traditions reveal that the key to our shared future may lie in listening to these landscapes that remember.

 

 

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Landscapes that remember: clues show Indigenous Peoples have thrived in the southwestern Amazon for more than 1,000 years

 

A 1,700-Year-Old Roman Merchant Ship Lies Just Two Meters Below the Surface off Mallorca’s Playa de Palma

Just two meters beneath the turquoise waters of Playa de Palma, archaeologists have uncovered a remarkably preserved Roman merchant ship that sank around 1,700 years ago. Found off one of Mallorca’s most popular tourist beaches, the Ses Fontanelles wreck offers an exceptional window into late Roman trade, shipbuilding, and daily life across the western Mediterranean.A discovery hiding in plain sight

The ship was first spotted by local resident Félix Alarcón, who noticed fragments of ancient wood protruding from the seabed during a morning swim. His report to the island’s heritage authorities led to a full-scale underwater investigation. Experts soon confirmed that the 12-meter-long vessel, loaded with hundreds of amphorae, dated to around the mid-4th century CE.

Archaeologists believe the ship departed from Cartagena, a major Roman port on Spain’s southern coast, carrying olive oil, wine, and garum—a fermented fish sauce widely traded across the empire. A coin found beneath the mast, minted in Siscia (modern Croatia) around 320 CE, provided a precise chronological marker.

Exceptional preservation beneath the sand

According to Prof. Enrique García of the University of the Balearic Islands, the vessel’s state of preservation is extraordinary. “The ship was quickly covered by sand after it sank, sealing it from oxygen and preventing biological decay,” he explained. Dozens of amphorae remained sealed, while parts of the hull and deck timbers retained their original structure.

Among the finds were two leather shoes, a carpenter’s drill likely used for onboard repairs, and an oil lamp depicting the goddess Diana, symbol of the hunt and the moon. Some amphorae, however, bear early Christian monograms, reflecting the transitional period when pagan and Christian beliefs coexisted in the late Roman world.

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Insights into Roman trade and economy

The cargo provided a wealth of epigraphic evidence. Many amphorae were marked with tituli picti—painted inscriptions identifying producers, content, and tax codes. Researchers from the University of Cádiz, led by Prof. Darío Bernal, have described the collection as one of the largest of its kind ever found in Spain.

“These inscriptions reveal the administrative and commercial networks that sustained Roman trade,” Bernal noted. “At least seven individuals were involved in labeling the containers, which gives us a glimpse of the scale of industrial organization behind Mediterranean commerce.”

Laboratory analysis confirmed that the amphorae’s clay originated from southeastern Spain, consolidating evidence of Murcia’s role as a production hub for oil and fish sauce during late antiquity. Interestingly, five previously unknown amphora types were identified, potentially helping scholars trace future finds to specific routes within the western Mediterranean trading system.

A rare survivor of late antiquity

Shipwrecks from the later Roman Empire are exceptionally rare. Most earlier vessels disintegrated or were scavenged long before systematic preservation efforts existed. The Ses Fontanelles wreck therefore offers a unique time capsule for studying shipbuilding techniques, trade logistics, and the daily lives of sailors operating between Iberia, North Africa, and the Balearic Islands.

The excavation also adds context to Mallorca’s own Roman past. Conquered by Quintus Caecilius Metellus Balearicus in 123 BCE, the island became a strategic stopover in the western Mediterranean. During the 4th century, the Playa de Palma area was a lagoon-harbor, later silted up, that offered shelter to vessels during storms—possibly the same haven the doomed merchantman sought before sinking.

 

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Conservation and future exhibition

The ship’s wooden remains remain in situ under protective sand layers, while the amphorae and artifacts have been transferred for conservation. According to Dr. Carlos de Juan of the University of Valencia, plans are underway to recover the hull in sections rather than as a single piece, since the keel had detached during earlier storms.

Once extracted, each wooden fragment will undergo desalination in freshwater tanks at Castillo San Carlos (Palma) to remove embedded salt crystals and corroded nails before impregnation and stabilization. The complete conservation and reconstruction process is expected to take at least five years, after which the ship will be exhibited to the public as a centerpiece of Mallorca’s maritime heritage.

The project, overseen by the Consell de Mallorca and supported by Spain’s ARQUEOMALLORNAUTA initiative, has already produced multiple academic papers and international conference presentations. Researchers hope the final display will not only highlight the island’s Roman legacy but also raise awareness of the fragile underwater landscapes that still hold untold stories of the Mediterranean’s trading past.

Consell de Mallorca

Cover Image Credit: Coins, amphorae, and many other artifacts rest on the seabed. Consell de Mallorca

 

By oguz kayra

 

4 November 2025

 

Tags: Archaeology news, ARQUEOMALLORNAUTA, Castillo San Carlos, Dr. Carlos de Juan, early Christian monograms, Featured, Félix Alarcón, late Roman trade, Mallorca archaeology, Mallorca’s Roman past, Playa de Palma, Prof. Darío Bernal, Prof. Enrique García, Quintus Caecilius Metellus Balearicus, Roman amphorae, Roman merchant ship, Roman shipwreck, Ses Fontanelles shipwreck, Siscia, underwater excavation, western Mediterranean in News

 

 

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A 1,700-Year-Old Roman Merchant Ship Lies Just Two Meters Below the Surface off Mallorca’s Playa de Palma - Arkeonews

 

Scientists Just Remapped the Entire Roman Road System. All 300,000 km of it

 

Not all roads lead to Rome, but a lot of them did.

 

 

by Mihai Andrei

 

 November 7, 2025

 

in Archaeology, News

 

A A

 

 Edited and reviewed by Zoe Gordon

 

 

 

 

At the height of its dominance, the Roman Empire included over 55 million people, stretching from Britain to Egypt and Syria and covering nearly 4 million square kilometers. In many ways, it was the most impressive Empire in human history. The Romans got many things right, but infrastructure is where they were particularly advanced for the time. In addition to the sea routes, the network of roads across the Empire enabled everything from trading and travel to tax collection. Without it, the Roman Empire couldn’t have lasted.

For centuries, researchers have studied these roads. They’ve mapped them with increasingly better tools. We assumed, with all our satellites and high-tech equipment, that we had a pretty good handle on them. Turns out, we were wrong.

A monumental new study, years in the making, has just presented Itiner-e, the most comprehensive, high-resolution digital map of the entire Roman road network ever created. The findings are staggering. The network is nearly double the length previously cataloged, at 299,171 kilometers (about 186,000 miles) of ancient routes. You can even use the map to calculate how long it would take to get from one city to another on chariot (or donkey).

How Did We Get It So Wrong?

The most detailed resource on Roman roads was the Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. The atlas was a masterpiece of 20th-century scholarship. But its digital versions, which most modern researchers rely on, were, to be blunt, gross simplifications.

To put it more elegantly, the old maps were of “limited spatial detail”. You had one road going from one city to another in a straight line, ignoring topography and mountains. There’s no way a real road could have passed through there. If you tried to follow it, you’d be driving your chariot off a cliff.

 

Even worse, the sources were opaque. A line on the map wasn’t clearly tied to a specific excavation report or historical text. You just had to trust the cartographer. For scientists trying to build precise models of trade or military movements, this was a disaster.

The creators of Itiner-e, led by Pau de Soto from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, thought this just wasn’t good enough. So, they launched an ambitious, collaborative effort between 2020 and 2024 to synthesize and digitize every known, described, or hypothesized road in the Roman Empire around 150 CE.

Remapping the Roads We Know

The first step was identifying the well-known Roman roads. Even this step was painstaking. They started with things like the Tabula Peutingeriana (a fantastic, bizarre 13th-century copy of a Roman map) and the Antonine Itinerary (a 3rd-century road list) to get the “main highways” and key connections. Next, they used aerial images, starting from historical aerial photographs (like the USAF flights from the 1950s) and moving to modern satellite imagery (Google, ESRI World Imagery), even resorting to declassified Cold War-era satellite imagery (Corona mission) for areas later flooded by modern dams.

It was painstaking work, often requiring the scanning and georeferencing of old maps to align them with modern coordinates.

 

 

But even this wasn’t nearly enough. The Romans helpfully left stone markers, or miliaria, all over the empire. The team used a massive geocoded database of 8,388 Latin milestones to get precise, known points on the map. They scanned thousands of regional summaries, excavation reports, and local surveys that don’t get mentioned in large-scale surveys.

They ended up with a mammoth database. But this wasn’t the end of it. Because that’s only the roads we know.

Seeking Out the Ghost Roads

We’ve found a lot of Roman roads. But every year, archaeologists (and sometimes, amateurs) find new ones. There are thousands and thousands of kilometers we haven’t uncovered yet. How do you map those?

 

To find these ghost roads, the team looked at historical data and overlaid it on modern planimetric data. They looked for faint “linear features” or the ghostly outlines of Roman land divisions (centuriation) still visible in modern farm fields.

But here’s the brilliant part: They also used historical maps. They hunted down 19th and early 20th-century topographic maps because those show the world before modern highways, urban sprawl, and massive dams.

They then digitized every single segment by hand. When a road wasn’t physically visible, they connected the known dots (like milestones or ruins or anything that was linked to a road). But they didn’t just draw a straight line. They followed the most plausible path, hugging the topography. They used digital elevation models to trace the road as it would have actually been built, winding through a mountain pass or following a riverbed.

This step alone can explain why their total road length increased so much. That old “straight line” over a mountain is now, correctly, a realistic, winding 10-kilometer pass.

 

We Know So Little

The Itiner-e team split the roads into three categories. The first category, the Certain ones, were less than 3% of the total roads. These are the roads that have been thoroughly discovered and mapped, and it’s almost nothing.

The bulk of the network were Conjectured networks, which made up almost 90%. This means the team had good evidence (from settlements, milestones, or other archaeological findings) that a road was there. So, they were making an extremely educated guess about its exact path. Then, the rest were Hypothetical roads that almost certainly existed between cities, but we haven’t found anything about them yet.

So, why does this matter? Who cares if a 2,000-year-old road was 500 meters to the left or right of where we thought?

Well, for starters, researchers can now model ancient trade with far greater precision. How long really did it take to get wheat from Egypt to Rome, or wine from Gaul? Our previous models were almost certainly imprecise, and this makes it much easier to calculate. It’s not a straight line. It’s a winding path with an average slope (which, by the way, the team also calculated for every single segment). This changes all our calculations about cost, time, and economic integration.

It also changes our understanding of Roman warfare. Now, a military historian can model, almost to the hour, how long it would take a legion to march from a fortress to quell an uprising, adapting to the actual terrain.

Plus, the dataset is open access. Every time archaeologists find something new, they can add it to the database. The team also created “confidence maps” that show which regions are well-studied and which are not — a literal treasure map for future archaeologists, showing exactly where to dig next.

The study was published in Nature.

 

 

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Scientists Just Remapped the Entire Roman Road System. All 300,000 km of it